Thursday, January 4, 2007

Pharmacist gets 24 months of probation

by Kenneth Lassiter

An Oskaloosa pharmacist was sentenced to two years of probation Dec. 29 as part of his plea agreement for pleading guilty in November to Medicaid fraud charges.

Jay Parker, 62, had pleaded guilty as part of a plea agreement with the Kansas Attorney General’s office. He owns and operates Parker’s Gifts on the south side of the square. About a month-and-a-half after entering his plea, Parker received his sentence from District Court Judge Michael Ireland in Oskaloosa.

A pre-sentence report on the case including Parker’s criminal history provided all the guidance needed for Ireland in making his decision as Parker and the state had come to a plea agreement in the case. Medicaid fraud is a severity level 7 non-person felony punishable by 11 to 34 months in prison and a fine of up to $100,000. As part of the agreement, Parker paid restitution of $75,000 to the Kansas Medicaid program in November.

After asking Parker if he had anything to say (Parker declined), Ireland sentenced Parker to 12 months in prison and 12 months of post-release supervision but granted Parker 24 months of probation in lieu of serving the sentence. Ireland put conditions on the sentence that Parker undergo a mental health evaluation and follow the recommendations from that and serve 100 hours of community service.

He was also sentenced to pay the court costs and fees and provide a DNA test to the state at his expense. He would also be limited in traveling outside the state without the permission of his probation officer. If Parker violates his probation, he would serve his 12-month sentence in prison.

“I’ve long held that there are three types of people – outlaws, people that have been in and out of the system, and good people who did something stupid without violence. I’d say you fit in that last category,” Ireland said. “You seem to be a good person but you just did something stupid and now we’re here.”

Rex Beasley, deputy attorney general in the AG’s Medicaid fraud and abuse division, litigated the case on behalf of AG Phill Kline. He asked Ireland about 27 boxes of records seized during the investigation into Parker’s doings. Ireland agreed to release those records to Parker but required him to keep all of them during the probationary period and to cooperate with any other investigation into those records from governmental entitites.

The Kansas State Board of Pharmacy is in the process of revoking the licenses of Parker and the pharmacy. In November, the AG’s office stated that, from 2004 to 2006, Parker wrote false prescriptions for Medicaid beneficiaries without doctors’ authorizations. He then used those false prescriptions to bill the state’s Medicaid program $75,000 using the Medicaid beneficiaries’ Medicaid identification numbers. Parker never actually filled the prescriptions or supplied the drugs to the beneficiaries. The AG’s office stated Parker also allegedly submitted false claims to private insurance companies.

The guilty plea in the case covers only the claims Parker submitted to the state Medicaid program and doesn’t cover actions or claims that may be asserted against Parker or the pharmacy by the board of pharmacy, the Drug Enforcement Agency, the state insurance department or any county or district attorney for insurance fraud, making a false writing, forgery or any other crime. Beasley said during the sentencing hearing that other investigations are ongoing and the possibility is still there for charges against Parker from other governmental agencies.